a. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a container for a food product. More specifically, the present invention relates to a container for a food product that is formed from a blank of foldable sheet material.
b. Discussion of the Related Art
Containers for food products are generally manufactured for the specific product to be packaged. For example, a conventional container for pizza generally has a relatively large square bottom wall portion and a top wall portion that has the same dimensions as the bottom wall Four side walls are hingedly connected to the bottom wall. One of the side walls also is hingedly connected to the top wall so that the top wall can be folded over on top of the bottom wall to close the container, thereby enclosing the pizza. These type of conventional pizza boxes are typically used in pizzerias and are stored as flat blanks or are assembled and stored in an open nested condition or are closed and stored in an assembled condition.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,170 to Katchadourian et al., which is commonly owned with the present invention and hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference, is directed towards an apparatus and method for making pizza. This apparatus and method automatically prepares and bakes a fresh pizza. Thus, a need has arisen for a container that can be formed from a unitary blank of foldable sheet material, and stored in a folded, flat position to minimize the space that the stack of containers take up within the apparatus. Additionally, there is a need for a container that can be easily removed from the stack of folded, flat blanks into a predetermined position where the container can be assembled to permit a food product, such as a pizza, to be inserted into the interior of the container. There is a further need for a container whose closure flaps can be automatically closed without jamming so that the package can be delivered to the end user while protecting the food product.
Currently, there are no containers that satisfy these needs. The conventional pizza box is intended to be used by hand, and the hingeable top wall is too large to be reliably handled by automated processes. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a container that satisfies these needs.